Pele
Edson Orantes do Nascimento, known as Pele, the king of soccer, thanked his fans for their affection and good wishes on his 70th birthday on Saturday, and particularly the gift of T-shirt autographed by players of the team Santos.
Pele, who preferred to celebrate his birthday with his family and away from the cameras, used the Twitter account of his son, former goalkeeper Edinho, to publish a photo of his 70th birthday party, and to thank the players of Santos, the team where he began his professional career at the age of 17.
The King was born in the city of Tres Corazoes in the state of Minas Gerais, and began to play as a professional when he was 17 years old in the Santos club, in Sao Paulo state.
For this team, for which he is the main idol in 98 years of history, Pele scored a good part of his 1,284 career goals, including No. 1,000; won 11 championships, and was top scorer 11 times.
The King still holds the record as top Brazilian scorer, with 95 goals in 114 games.
mh/rab/iff/ale
about Brazil, Paraíba and João Pessoa
Legend of the game reaches latest milestone
1. Pele scored a total of 1,283 first-class goals, including 77 for Brazil.
2. He won three World Cups, two World Club Championships and nine Sao Paulo State Championships.
3. Pele was named after American inventor Thomas Edison, his real name being Edson Arantes do Nascimiento.
4. Pele was signed by Santos when he was 15. He scored four goals on his league debut in a match against FC Corinthians on September 7, 1956.
5. Waldemar de Brito, another great Brazilian forward, is credited with discovering Pele, taking him to Santos, and telling them then that he was going to be “the greatest football player in the world.”
6. At 17, Pele became the youngest ever winner of a World Cup. He also scored twice in the final against home side Sweden.
7. Pele was appointed as Minister of Sport in Brazil in 1995, serving until 1998.
8. He was voted athlete of the century by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1999.
9. In 1997, Pele was given an honorary British Knighthood.
10. On November 19, 1969, Pele scored his 1000th career goal. Hundreds raced onto the pitch to mob the Brazilian star and it took over thirty minutes for the game to resume. (more…)
about Brazil, Paraíba and João Pessoa
The world will travel to Brazil for the next World Cup while in the meantime the South American powerhouse will tour the globe in their bid to become World Cup winners for the sixth time in 2014.
New coach Mano Menezes and his team looked very much at home in the English midlands on Monday when they beat a gritty Ukraine side 2-0 at Derby County’s Pride Park, the latest venue to host the team who remain football’s biggest attraction.
At face value Brazil playing Ukraine in a provinical English city on a Monday in October can be seen as just another money-spinner in an already over-crowded international calendar.
But neither Derby County nor Menezes sees it quite like that and television channels also reflected huge interest with the match televised live to more than 100 countries around the world.
John Vicars, Derby’s vice-president of operations, told Reuters before the match the game clearly was one of the most prestigious Derby had ever hosted.
“We had only had two weeks to organise it after plans to stage it in the Middle East failed to materialise.
“We had a phone call from the agency that organises Brazil’s friendlies outside Brazil to see if we could host it instead as we are one of a number of clubs they deal with.
“You don’t say ‘no’ to Brazil, do you, and of course it was a tremendous honour for us to do so. As long as we break even which I am sure we will, we will be happy“. (more…)
about Brazil, Paraíba and João Pessoa
Brazil hammered Cuba 3-0 to secure their third straight world men’s volleyball championship on Sunday after a highly successful tournament in Italy.
The South Americans, dressed in their traditional yellow and blue and roared on by Brazil and Inter Milan soccer player Lucio in the Rome arena, took the final set 25-22 thanks to a winning shot from the consistently excellent Leandro Vissotto. He fell to the ground in ecstasy after securing victory in a largely one-sided final.
Cuba had beaten Brazil 3-2 in the first round and finished above their rivals in Pool B.
“It was a hard-fought victory,” Brazil coach Bernardinho told Italy’s Rai television. (more…)
about Brazil, Paraíba and João Pessoa
Brazil claimed a 3-0 win over Iran in a friendly match in the United Arab Emirates and continued their winning streak since their World Cup quarter-final exit.
Goals by Dani Alves, Alexandre Pato and Nilmar gave Brazil their second win in as many games under new boss Mano Menezes, who coached the five-time World Cup winners to a 2-0 friendly triumph over the United States two months ago after he succeeded Dunga.
In the first ever meeting between the sides Brazil showed no mercy with their opponents right from the start as they recorded five shots on goal in the opening 20 minutes, including a Robinho attempt which hit the left-hand post.
They took an early lead as Alves fired a free-kick into the top-left corner via the upright in the 13th minute.
As soon as the second half started, Menezes decided to give reserves the opportunity to play so Elias came in for debutant Philippe Coutinho, Giuliano for Carlos Eduardo and Sandro replaced Ramires, while Robinho came off for Nilmar.
Twenty-four minutes into the second half, Elias showed Menezes’ decision was right as he set up Pato, who burst into the box to beat Mehdi Rahmati with a right-foot strike. (more…)
about Brazil, Paraíba and João Pessoa
